When Dreams are Shattered

Songmark & Carmen © Mr. Simon L. Barber, used with permission

Alexia Humber was enjoying the late evening quiet, having snuggled into a nest of assorted pillows while she read a romance novel that her wife Carman had given her the day before. This week the mink had night duty. Since her marriage and following disownment by her family, she and her younger sister Tina had decided to pull separate twelve hour shifts. They would split Sundays, their combined day off (as long as they stayed on Meeting Island in case of an emergency) so that each week the other would have night shifts. It was working a great deal better than the way they had previously been working.

As for Tina Humber, the just turned eighteen year old was out on her ‘perfect date.’ Tina had informed her sister that tonight was the night that she would give herself to her boyfriend. “Who knows, I may be with pup before you” she had laughed as she slipped on her brand new, and rather racy unders.

Alexia laid down her book, thinking about that scene. She remembered what she had warned her sister. “Do not do anything that you will regret later, for being with pup will keep you out of Songmark. You have worked too hard to throw that away.”

Tina had given her a sultry look, smiling at some unbidden thought. “What God wants, God will grant my dear sister, as he has with you.” She had finished dressing, saying nothing but humming a merry tune as she did so.

That had been hours ago. Very many hours ago. So long ago that in truth that the older mink was beginning to worry that her sister might not have time for enough sleep before her own duty shift. A few minutes later she knew the reason why her sister had been so late returning, as a very drunk mink staggered through the hanger door, a mink so drunk that she was barely able to stand.

“What have you done now” Alexia demanded while setting her book aside. “You know that you cannot be like this, not on a duty day.” She moved to her sister, taking her by the paw and near dragging her towards the docked BLACK ROSE. Fate was with her, as they just made the edge of the dock when the younger minks stomach rebelled, returning to the harbor everything the young woman had put into it that night.

“no” Tina managed to get out between retching. “‘e said no, ahn why.”

“And that would be the why” Alexia asked, wishing that Carmen was here now, for even after her own problems a broken heart was not something that she knew how to mend.

“Mar..Mar.. Their women have pouches” Tina managed to get out. “Ahn their not even comp.. Compat... compatible with me.” She retched again, though little came out by now. Sniffling Tina fell into a heap, pulling herself into a little ball while her sister could do nothing for her. Finally though the older mink managed to get her sister onto the BLACK ROSE and into her bunk.

“Looks like I’m pulling a triple” she sighed as she returned to the ships deck. With luck there would be little to do today and she could nap, but they could have an emergency at any time so Alexia decided to start pre-flighting the DUCK while she was still alert.

Just after noon, and when Alexia was beginning to have trouble remaining alert someone knocked on the hangers open door. “Come in” Alexia called, standing and stretching in order to wake up. In was Alexanders sister who came in, the female wombat looking around as though afraid someone would throw something at her. “Come to join in the disaster?” Alexia asked. “I’m afraid that the hulled ship has sunk, there is nothing to see now but a dirty oil slick.”

“It.. It was unexpected Alexia” Carthagen admitted, understanding the reference. “May I sit? Thank you.” Settling down the young woman looked over at the BLACK ROSE, shook her head no then looked up at Alexia. “Tina’s offering herself I mean. Father and mother just had ‘the talk’ with Alexander Sunday, something that I fear they much put off, put off too long I fear. He was going to break the news to your sister last night, you see Alexander does love your sister, but physically?” Carthagen shook her head no, “Impossible, completely impossible. You see to start we are marsupials, there could never be children.”

“You carry your children in pouches, yes I remember that from Biology.” Alexia settled down in a chair herself. “I fear that my sister had little interest in biology, her interests were more in the realm of fantasy. So when she offered herself he was forced to blurt out the news? But even though... oh dear. He has a split... Oh my.”

“Yes, from experience we know that it would tear your sister apart inside. Alexia, my brother truly loves your sister, and he knows that any long term relationship would result in, well, they would mate. Once they had done that, we are very strong you know and tend to crush weaker opponents, Mother and Father fear that your sister would be badly damaged. Given the information that he should have had years ago Alexander agreed, and though it tore him apart inside he knew that if he truly loved Tina, he had to give her up. It didn’t help that while they were walking in a secluded place, and while he was trying to explain things that your sister let her dress fall.”

Despite her own feeling about events Alexia giggled. “Oh that must have been something” she admitted.

“I guess so” Carthagen agreed. “Since Tina was the first naked, or close enough that it doesn’t matter, girl my brother has ever seen. You see the girls on Meeting island do not ‘go native’ and my other than the brighter lights of Casino Island, where the women are never ‘native’ my brother has never been off it .”

“There is Dia Kura” the mink reminded her visitor. “I believe that she is always topless at least.”

“Topless is a great deal different than bottomless, and as Alexander told me, Tina’s panties were missing something important. He almost took her then, that would have been a true disaster for everyone because as his first, she would have born the brunt of his untrained passion. He most likely would have killed her, in the least he would have crushed her ribcage.”

“I recall something about how your ancestors killed attackers in their burrows” Alexia admitted. “Which explains the strength, so how does this physical problem affect you Carthagen” Alexia asked. “Being Sapphic and all, wouldn’t you tend to cruse your own lovers, after all you did chase me and physically I am no different that my sister.”

“I bind my legs apart Alexia” the wombat admitted. “I have a threaded iron bar exactly for that, since I nearly crushed my first lovers skull. Like I said, wombats are physically very powerful.” She sighed, looking up at the roof high above her head. “I’m supposed to come explain everything to Tina and she’s not available. When would be a good time to return?”

“That will not be necessary Miss Cartwheel ” a lighter voice answered.

Turning around Alexia found her sister sitting at one of the open portholes on he BLACK ROSE. “He truly loves me?”

“He does Tina” Carthagen answered. “So much that it hurts him. But you cannot be a couple, it cannot be. He does wish to remain your friend however.”

“Friend” the young mink almost whispered. “I wanted all, I gain almost nothing. Is this the way my life will be, to reach so hard only to be slapped down?”

“You have lost once in love my sister” Alexia corrected her sibling, “nothing more. Songmark awaits you next year, I will stake my life upon that.”

“You would Alexia? Really? Would you, should I be denied, allow me to carve your living heart out?”

Alexia stood up, her sister was obviously in a very low mood and in such a mood anything was possible, even taking her own life. “I would prefer that you shoot me, I much dislike pain you are aware” she told her sister when she had reached that porthole. “There are other men, many many other men. You are not the first, or the last to be denied her desires because of simple biology.”

“Friends” Tina repeated. “Ashes in my heart, emptiness in my life but maybe friends. Carthagen. Please tell your brother that I do understand. The fault is equal, I should have paid attention in biology class. I do understand, but would he give me the time to recover? You see I cut that section out of my panties in the hope that he would take me, so at least I know it almost worked. More importantly, I know now that he did want me, but was gentleman enough to care more for my safety than his own pleasure. I think that I shall await my completion of Songmark before I open my arms to a man again.” She took a deep breath, almost giggling. ”I recall saying What God wants, God will grant. He has done so, far be it for me to ignore what God wants.”

Slipping back into the ship Tina closed the porthole, her sister returning to her chair near the visiting wombat.

“Will she be all right?” the wombat asked.

“Would you, would I in the same situation” Alexia asked. “No, she will not be all right, but when Tina talks about God that way I know that she has accepted. In time I think that they will be friends again, but this problem I lay at your parents feet. When did they give you ‘the talk?’”

“They haven’t yet” Carthagen admitted. “And since I am very active sexually, with no interest in males I doubt that they ever will. My parents are very religious, and I have found that such people fear explaining the bees and the birds to their children. As I never shall have children I am spared this problem because I am almost as religious as my parents you see. Now I better go tell the frightened boy that a mad crazed mink is not going to arrive with a thin rusted blade to reduce him to mince pie.”

Alexia simply accepted that statement, grateful that things had come out better than they had started. Standing she walked her visitor to the door where the wombat stopped.

“I envy Carmen more than you can believe Alexia. I truly wanted you myself, oh I would never have married you, but we would have played. Oh how we would have played. Take care of yourself and your sister, she’s going to need you for a few weeks.”

“You take care of Alexander too” Alexia replied. “And don’t be a stranger, it is quite fun seeing whom you have selected for a lover every week.”

Sometime later Alexia heard the unmistakable sound of Tina returning to life. Though the normal singing wasn’t there, the sounds were consistent with someone washing, dressing and getting something light to eat. A little while later her sister joined her, almost collapsing into the same chair that Carthagen had used.

“You look like you took on the entire rugby team” Alexia commented after seeing how her sister looked.

“Could not have, I can still walk” Tina replied, taking a sip of her coffee. “You should sleep, it is already past one in the afternoon so you must be exhausted.”

Looking up at the rafters Alexia just grinned. “If you think a shift and a half is bad dear sister, you simply must listen to Carmen the next time she is home. Why, Songmark has been known to keep their students awake for days. In preparation, Carmen has placed me on that exercise regime that you so laugh about.”

Sighing, Alexia’s sister sat her coffee aside. “The more I hear of how Songmark truly is, the less I find myself desiring to attend its courses.”

Moving back into a normal sitting position Alexia then stood, for the moment towering over her younger sister. “You will not say that again Tina. We went through worse in the Caribbean as I recall, and the things we had to endure in order to reach the Spontoon’s. No my dear loving sister, Songmark could never be as bad as those storm wracked days. It will though be murder for us if we do not maintain our physical conditioning. For example, when was the last time that you climbed to the top of BLACK ROSE’s mainmast?”

Tina thought, turned to look at the currently lowered mainmast and remembered when they had brought their, no now Alexia’s ship into dock. “Months and months” she finally admitted.

“Then try cleaning the rafters while I sleep, and please use a safely rope so that you do not fall. I wouldn’t even hear your body being crushed against these stone floors by gravity, so tired am I.”

“All right. Clean the rafters, an easy task.” Setting her cup aside the younger mink stood, pulling her coveralls up and fastening them. “How hard could it be?”

It would, the young mink discovered, be a painful, exhausting chore as she had let her body lose a great deal of muscle tone since accepting her current employment.